The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-11-30
RAMEE AND JUTE.
TWO NEW SOUTHERN INDUS
TRIES DESCRIBED.
What the Rance and Jute Plant
Are-Their Cultivation in the
Southern States-What
They Produce.

hlCndTQ OWen says III Iilc SuiSas3'
Current: The cultivation of rance and
jute with success and profit has recent!
been so fully demonstrated in Louisian;
and Texas that it becomes indirectly a;
Interesting fact even in the North. Judg
ing from the information given regarding
the two plants, in pamphlet by Emii'
LIE Franc-one issued from the govern
ment printing Office in Washington city
1918, urging their cultivation, and asub
seouent publication by the same autho:
describing the mode of culture and th'
success attending crops of considerable
area, raised in Louisiana and Texas
there is no longer any doubt connected
with the profitable cultivation Of bot!
plants.
A letter by Mr.. I. Juvenet accompany
ing the first bale of second crop of rance
for 1887, ispublished in the New Orleans
Neus. The beautiful fibre (of which a
friend has sent me sample) is four fec,
long, white and glossy as silk. 1t was
raised on the. plantation of Captain
Henry Willett, near Algiers, on the op
posite side of the river from Ne"
Orleans.
MIR. Juvenet has already sold to the
different parishes in the State 400, 00G
rance roots, and expects TO sell million
this year, for fall planting. Mr.: Charles
Dirnayer, the Secretary of the "Ex
change" to which the bale was sent.
says, in replying: 81 am confident that,
in short time, rance and jute will be
classed among the leading resources OF
the South" The editor adds that some
samples o. cloth woven from rance were
sent to his Office, and that they equal tn
finest of silk.
If all that is hoped from these products
should be realized, the North would be
benefited not only by having cheaper pro.
ducts for goods almost equal to silk, but
by having ground, now cultivated dis
advantageously in wheat and corn, un
suited to that latitude, devoted to the
growth of a useful textile fibre, fol
which our corn and wheat can be profit
ably exchanged.
A few details regarding the two plants
may interest your readers. ,
Ramee-This fibre has been cultivated
for many wears in Asiatic countries, and
sold, when woven into various goods,
under the names, "Japan silk" "Can-
ton goods" grass cloth" "Nankin
linen" etc. In China the fibre is called
Tchon Ma; in India, Rhea or Rhaa; in
Java, Rance. Itgrows to the height OF
five to eight feet, the fibre being from
four to six feet long, and when properly
prepared, white and silky. 1t may be
asked how can the United States com.
pete with the cheap labor of India and
China, in raising this valuable plant, as
we'll as jute2 Simply by bringing
greater intelligence to its culture and
preparation. It is planted somewhat like
corn-4, 600 roots to the acre-and can
be successfully weeded and harvested BY
our labor-saving machinery. But the
chief improvements over the Chinese
methods Of rotting the plant, like hemp,
which greatly impairs its whiteness, and
then slowly detaching the bark by hand
labor, is the American invention of 8
"decorticating machine" consisting OF
corrugated rollers worked by steam, and
sold by Mr.. Juvenet, the inventor, at
$500, while the most complete costs
81, 900. The "Encyclopedia- Britannica, j
saws: "a cord spun from ramee was
found to sustain weight of 252 pounds,
while similar cord of Russian hemp was
estimated by the Admiralty test not to
bear more than eighty-seven pounds"
Jute is obtained fiom two species OF
Cocrhorus, C. capsularis and c. olitorius,
essentially alike. The pamphlet above
mentioned considers Texas best adapted
for iutc, but Louisiana for rance. Jute
is inferior to fax and hemp in saength
and tensity, but takes brilliant and deli
cate shades of dye. Immense quantities
of the fiber are consumed in the manu-.
facture of gunny bags of different
grades. and for packing cotton. Already
q early as in 1874 over 10000 persons
were employed in Scotland in producing
inte fabrics. One factory in Dundee EN-.
ployed 5000 operatives, and covered
twenty-five acres of ground. ,
One of the pamphlets above alluded
to, mentions that a French gentleman has
offered to establish mandatory OF
rance and jute in New Orleans, when
ever he can be assured that there is acre
age enough planted in the Southern
States to produce sufficient raw material.
Already our commercial travellers taking
orders for furniture carry their samples OF
beautiful rance cloth, with which they
offer to upholster at about the same rates
as rep or haircloth. Thus the outlook
seems encouraging,